Alden

What Alden means

Means “old + friend”

From Old English Ealdwine, from eald (“old”) +‎ wine (“friend”); equivalent to Alwin.

Source: Wiktionary, “Alden” (revision 94190779), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Alden?

US: Rising: up from #725 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #2707 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 494 boys got the name (#576 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 3,566 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 16,996 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 6,547 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ME (3.38 per 1,000 boys), NH (2.0 per 1,000 boys), MT (1.33 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Alden is #598 in the US and #1613 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.2% of US babies named Alden were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alton106 US
• Eldon60 US · 6 E&W
• Elden36 US · 6 E&W
• Aldon14 US
• Altan12 US
• Aldin9 US
• Eldin8 US
• Aulden5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Alden

Boys

• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• August#81“month of August”^*
• Prince#447Editor’s note Down from #386 in 2015 to #447 in 2025 in the US
• Briar#686Editor’s note Used for both: 34% of US babies named Briar in 2025 were boys
• Ocean#717“sea”^*
• Aspen#920Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1990, with 8 babies

For a sister

• Willow#44From the word “willow”^*
• Dahlia#215Editor’s note Up from #412 in 2015 to #215 in 2025 in the US
• Ivy#39From the word “ivy”^*
• Mercy#862Editor’s note Up from #1,011 in 2015 to #862 in 2025 in the US
• Hazel#21From the word “hazel”^*
• Wynter#456Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under English, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Alden’s. Rank is US 2025.